


Skyfall

by A Lost Time Journal (RoNask)



Series: The Flynns [2]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-08-22 17:34:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 16,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16602494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoNask/pseuds/A%20Lost%20Time%20Journal
Summary: Not long after their return from Scotland, Flynn and Lucy's plans are interrupted by Jessica taking action as a Rittenhouse agent, which leaves the Time Team with a dead friend, a traitor, a plan from the future and a lot of pain. Meanwhile, the Flynns must decide the fate of their marriage in such chaotic times, if they find time to breathe.---Sequel to Siubhail Ùine





	1. Aftermath

Garcia Flynn was laying down on his mattress, staring at the small spider web that existed under the structure of his bed. A very busy small spider working on it carefully, the project of its life happening before his eyes. 

The sound of the door opening was what dragged his attention away, made him turn and sit almost instantly. Concern was written all over his face when he glanced over to the woman closing the door. Her features were pale, there were bags under her eyes and she seemed so fragile it made his chest ache, yet she was strong enough to keep him in place.

A hint of relaxation downed on her expression as she faced him.

Lucy moved towards the bed as if she had been pushed away by the door. Crawled over the mattress, then fell down on it as if her body had just given up the fight. Closed her eyes.

Flynn lowered himself to his elbow, watched her in silence for a long moment. Swallowed, fighting the impulse to get a strand of hair away from her cheek. “Lucy,...”

The historian made a quiet movement with her head and the man went silent. Her eyes opened and went straight to his. Her nose was red and there were unshed tears, yet her tone was still strong. “Can you hold me? Please?”

“Of course,” Garcia replied, pulling her into his chest and getting her blankets, covering the two of them.

He made a nest for her into his arms, held her close to his heart and kissed the top of her head softly.

“I’m sorry, Lucy. I’m so sorry,” he whispered into the darkness of the room.

“I am too,” came her feeble response.

And then Flynn felt her form tremble, her sobs starting quietly, then getting muffled against his shirt. The historian held him back and he kept her tighter close, allowed her to weep against his body, caressed her back and muttered something in his mother tongue in a soothing manner.

“I’m so tired, Flynn,” she whimpered, “I’m so, so tired”

The man planted a kiss on the side of her head.

“I’m so sick of losing people, losing my family, losing friends… I,...” Lucy didn’t manage to finish, buried her face on his chest as if she could hide there and never have to come out.

“Rest now,  _ draga _ . You’ve fought enough for today, did too much today,” he reassured quietly.

Everything had been chaos since Jessica had taken the Lifeboat. Losing Rufus was awful, Jiya’s rage was understandable yet still cutting, and the visit from the Future Team - as they have decided to call them - left them with more questions than answers, along with a plan they were unsure of how to work on.

They hardly had had the time to rest and between their questions, their rage, and their grief, they were all exhausted.

Garcia had his own questions, his own grief, his own doubts. Many times he wished Future Lucy would look at him, talk to him; wished to know if that was the woman who saved his life years ago, wanted to know how she was, how much they had lost. But she felt a bit like a stranger now, and his Lucy - present Lucy, his  _ wife _ \- would need him and he knew it.

Her left hand had been conveniently covered by some sort of black glove, they never learned if she was still married or not. And, in all honesty, it wouldn’t change a thing, not when this Lucy needed him to be there so bad.

Seeing her with Wyatt had hurt, but there was no fighting the impulse to protect her, to keep her from pain. He couldn’t get himself to step away just now, especially when she came to him and got herself into his arms as if he was the only thing that could keep her together now. If that was the case he would do so, would pull all her little pieces together until she was no longer in pain. The rest would come later, he would figure it all out later. 

Now, Lucy needed him here with her and that was where he was staying.


	2. Lucky Number

As he entered the common room, Connor wondered just how well he knew Jiya. It made him smile a bit the sight of her bent over the station, hands flying over a piece of paper. 

He knew what she was doing and how it must have felt like a relief for her at such a moment. It was just her and the math and the psychics. A strand of light cutting through the thick darkness that seemed to have fallen onto them. A gift of hope brought by these future strangers, that resembled their friends, who had come crashing at their doorstep.

He wondered how long she had been at it.

“Jiya?” he tried, approaching her.

The young engineer didn’t look up, hand still moving fast.

“Jiya?”

“One sec” she muttered in a shot, sound almost lost in the process.

Mason smirked before he stole a glimpse over her shoulder, found a mess of numbers and symbols on the paper, along with some pages that weren’t on her handwriting.

That made him pause.

“Whose are that?” he asked.

Jiya shot the paper he indicated a quick look, “Lucy Croft and beard Wyatt got me these”

“It’s my handwriting,” the man said, “I’ve seen this equation before”

Connor ran to one of the desks near and the young woman turned at the sound of rustling paper.

“Rufus showed me these numbers before,” he told her, “They didn’t add up back then” he finally pulled a battered sheet out of the mess and returned to her.

“Lucy said you had an insight one day after drinking too much” the young woman revealed before studying the piece he was presenting to her.

Jiya took the paper, laid it down on her desk and her hand started working again, “This was Rufus’ idea?”

“I added up a few things”

She got Connor’s future notes, Rufus’ and her own side by side. Then finished the equation.

Mason could almost hear the crackling sound of electricity in the back of his mind.

“We did it” Jiya whispered, eyes wide, a smile threatening to light up her features entirely. She blinked a few times, “I need to check this”

She did and the result repeated itself. She tried the equation backward and found no mistake had been made. Looked over her shoulder to him, “We’ll need to run the tests, but…”

“We did it,” Connor said, “We did it!” he exclaimed and held her shoulder tight “Wonderful! Wonderful!” the man let out a sigh, “C’mon! We have to start the tests. Everything goes as planned, Rufus will be home for Christmas! C’mon, Jiya! Let’s get your husband back!”

That night he got them both a lot of coffee. There was a lot of work to be done.


	3. Something to Fight For

The weight of his head forcing his body forward was what woke him up.

Wyatt found himself sitting against the wall of his room. The place was empty and he had yet to get the two beds separated and back on their place. No one would have to sleep on the sofa anymore. Jessica was gone, and so was Rufus.

The thought made him wince a bit, the guilt for the death of his friend not an easy thing to get away from.

He ran a hand through his face, through the beard he had forgotten to shave away and paused mid-act. Got a hand on his pocket and took out a picture that his future version had given him. “Something to fight for”, he had said.

The little girl had her blonde hair like Jessica’s, the same shape on her eyes too, but the color was like his and so was the nose. A child from the future.

Turning the picture around he found a name. “Emily” written on his own handwriting and he had no doubt Future Wyatt kept the picture in his Lifeboat, so he would never forget the child if things went to hell.

“Something to fight for”

Emily was a pretty name, but it seemed clear to him as soon as he saw the child that it wasn’t the first option. Looking at the blonde curls and the big eyes, he had thought of “Lucia” and then he paused and faced his future self, who just nodded - he had had that thought too. But anything sounding like “Lucy” was out of the question.

The soldier put the picture away, back on his pocket. Then rubbed the sleep and the exhaustion away from his face - or tried to.

Lucy.

Lucy to whom he had confessed his love in a not ideal moment. Lucy who might not come back.

Lucy Preston, historian, the woman who he fell in love with and yet couldn’t love enough to leave his grief behind.

_ Lucy Preston Flynn _ . His mind made sure to correct because in all this mess, they never got separated and probably wouldn’t do it so soon. After all, it was no secret that Lucy hadn’t been sleeping on the couch and she might have used the room Denise left available while she was out for a few nights, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He had noticed a mattress that just wasn’t lost in the bunker anymore. 

Husband and wife in close quarters.

Lucy Preston Flynn, Garcia Flynn’s wife.

The soldier chuckled, yet there was no humor.

For not the first time he considered his options, considered what their future versions had told them. 

His version had looked at present Lucy with a small smile, something that had felt too much like a brother watching a sister, and he didn’t know what to make of it. Future Lucy wouldn’t look at Flynn for more than a second.

Wyatt took the picture from his pocket once more.

Something to fight for.

Considered his options, then got up and made his way towards the bed, that still had to be separated.

  
  


There was some knocking on the door before Christopher opened it and stared straight at the soldier. He had barely raised his head when she started talking, “Get up and get dressed. Meeting in twenty minutes”


	4. Update

Her breathing changed and a groan was heard, it might or might not have come from her, as she stretched a bit. 

Body waking up before her mind did; Lucy found herself in the room she and Flynn shared for weeks now and on the - not uncommon - situation of sharing a bed with him. 

Marriage - even a fake one - can do that to a person. 

The surprise was to find his chest so close to her face, his arm resting under her, probably numb by now, and suddenly the groan was probably his since she had felt him move after the sound.

His face was turned to her, but his hand now laid on his stomach and he slept quite peacefully for someone who she had hardly seen sleeping and, when she did, tended to have nightmares. His nightmares had been better in Scotland and he was having fewer back on the bunker too. Made her wonder just how much his brain had worked around the absence of a partner by his side.

They were close and it shouldn’t surprise her because she was now being reminded of how she had sobbed herself to sleep into his arms, how he made sure to hold her and comfort her even if it was sometimes in a language she didn’t speak. Yet his face was close and not looking at his lips felt impossible. She hadn’t kissed him since they got married and even then it was a simple peck.

Her mind wandered to places she wasn’t sure it should go and the historian searched his face for any indication of his awakening. Found none.

How could a man so powerful and so strong look so vulnerable?

Lucy swallowed, eyes roaming down to his form before returning to his face.

There was no doubt in her mind that he could kill someone with his bare hands if it was necessary. But choking someone to death requires intimacy or desperation and it didn’t suit him in the least.

This was the same man who had married her to protect her, the same man that had been her friend for the last weeks, listening to her every doubt and pain, that held her tight against his chest so she could grieve the loss of a dear friend.

An angel and a demon. Jekyll and Hyde. Murderer and husband. Destroyer and protector.

Her spouse on paper, but not in facts.

She wondered what would be like to kiss him and lowered her eyes for an instant.

Then a shift and a raise of her eyes told her he was awake and she had been caught. The change on his features took a few moments and she caught every passing emotion. 

Surprise, joy, realization, and confusion.

He was about to say something when there were knocks on the door and she sat up quickly. When Denise opened the door her curious look didn’t last long before she faced the two of them.

“I need you two for a meeting, you have twenty minutes” she considered leaving but paused and faced them again, indicated the mattresses on the floor, “We’ll talk about that later”

And left.

  
  


When Lucy walked into the room, Jiya looked like she might fall asleep and drown in the cup of coffee she had on her hand. Connor - who had followed the historian’s gaze - smiled and gave the young woman a gentle rub in the back.

“Jiya” he muttered and she just groaned.

“Let her rest,” Denise said, stopping near the other two. She glanced over to Lucy, “I have news and so do them”

“You found something?” Lucy asked Connor.

The man smiled, “More than we hoped” his gaze fell on the now sleeping engineer at the table, “Jiya and I found a way around one of Rufus’ equations. We might get him back sooner than we thought”

The man and the agent exchanged glances, the latter gave him a nod.

Christopher then turned to the two men joining them, “Good, everybody is here”

“Where is the fire?” Flynn asked stopping at the table near to Lucy.

“Things will change around here a little. They probably should have before, but we didn’t exactly have the time or the means” the agent informed, “I’m getting Connor and Jiya extra equipment to upgrade the Lifeboat, so we can get to Rufus as soon as possible. I’m also getting you armed” she paused and faced everyone, “All of you. Flynn and Wyatt will train you. I also will get you gear and space and we’ll have a gym and sparring lessons. Lucy and Jiya are our priority now, but you’re in too, Connor. Flynn, Wyatt and I will take care of this part. I’m also getting Noah to get you medical training”

“What?” Lucy questioned.

“Who’s Noah?” Garcia asked.

“What if we can’t trust him?” Wyatt doubted.

“We did a background on him, he’s clean and he has helped before” Denise informed them, “As for who he is…” the agent considered, then glanced from Flynn to Lucy, “I’d ask your wife, Mr. Preston”

Lucy wasn’t the only one to blink at Christopher’s choice of the way to address Flynn.

“As much as I love the news, I’m afraid we don’t exactly have space to all these renovations” Connor commented, deliberately ignoring whatever possible chaos Denise had thrown the married couple in.

“We don’t, but we will start small for now” she informed, “And this is the last thing I wanted to talk about: we’re moving out of here”

There was a collective sigh of relief.

“The location has been compromised, I don’t know where we’re going or how long we’ll stay, but it’ll be soon, so be ready”

“Finally gonna leave this fish can” the soldier muttered walking to the kitchen as soon as he sensed her dismissing them.

Garcia turned to Lucy, “So… Who’s Noah?”

She faced him and blinked a bit, face contorting a little, “Get me coffee and I’ll update you, okay?”

The man decided it was a fair deal and nodded.

The historian sighed and glanced around. There would be quite a few things to pack.


	5. Treason

Treason.

The word had been on her mind all night. It had kept her awake with just pauses for naps that were probably more for the baby's sake than for her own.

Her arm didn't hurt anymore. Emma made sure the doctors had her checked and the wound treated, as well as the antibiotics and painkillers given. The drugs had gotten her through the first hours of the night, then her mind took over and stole from her any chance of decent rest.

There was something profoundly different between planning and executing treason. And if she had managed to follow her orders to a point, it was clear in her mind that killing Wyatt would have been impossible for her to do. They had been married for years and, even if things didn’t go well sometimes, he was still her husband and the father of her unborn child.

She loved her brother and never once regretted his life being saved, but sometimes the burden was too heavy and this was one of these moments.

Rufus was dead. Emma had killed him.

Rufus, Jiya’s boyfriend. The same Jiya with whom she tried to be friends with, who tried to make sure she didn’t feel so left out while her husband was running around somewhere in the past with a terrorist, a techie, and a historian - who also happened to be in love with him.

She could handle Rufus, Jiya and Connor, they would have been easy. Even if Jiya might have hurt a little.

Christopher was distant, so it would have been just as easy.

Lucy... Well, Lucy would have been complicated, because she was not blind to the way Wyatt looked at the woman, but there wouldn’t be much remorse involved either. She probably could have killed Lucy on her way out, but the historian wasn’t where she was supposed to be, which reminded Jessica of just why the petite woman might not be as easy to get rid of as intended.

The terrorist.

Garcia Flynn could be a terrorist and, from what she heard, he didn’t have many fans around the bunker, yet even before Scotland and the wedding, the man had been more than a little close to the historian. He watched over her when she wasn’t looking and he would readily be there if Preston requested for him. Only a fool would miss what was going on.

Lucy was in love with Wyatt, while Flynn was in love with Lucy.

And having a terrorist as her protector made the woman almost untouchable. Even if his guard had been low and Preston was within Jessica’s reach, she imagined what his fury would have done. The man had already done some damage to her arm in Chinatown, imagine what he would do if Lucy was taken from him.

From what she knew Flynn had nothing else to lose and if he lost this one, there was no telling how far he would go. And it was clear he had already gone very far.

Jessica would have had to have been a specially gifted agent to take down five people, out of which three had the proper training to end her before she was done. All of that and also kidnap one of the pilots and their ship.

The team now was down on their numbers and all Rittenhouse had to do was get rid of the rest of them. Which would include Wyatt. If Emma saw a glimpse of hesitance she would get someone else on the job, but she would get it done. Wyatt would die, along with Lucy, her terrorist and the rest of them.

Wyatt Logan, father of her child, would die. Or she would, because Emma would not forgive treason and neither would she handle well the sight of hesitance. Carolyn Preston had been the proof of that.

If she stayed and did as told, Emma would use her as her right arm. Wyatt would die, but their child would be safe and so would Rittenhouse, the people who took care of her in times of need.

The other option…

Jessica took a look around her room. Nothing like the room at the fish can that was that bunker.

The other option was finding a way to go back, join the Time Team and risk losing everything. Wyatt, her child, her life, her family. That if they took her in. Wyatt was likely to, but if Christopher and Lucy’s hound already gave her suspicious looks, now would be impossible to inhabit the same space as them.

The third option was romance, leave it for writers and dreamers to hope that both she and Wyatt would go rogue and run away. Disappear and raise their child somewhere safe, while praying Rittenhouse wouldn’t find them, praying that that unusual team succeeded, because they wouldn’t go after them as Rittenhouse would.

But then again, the third option was romance. Leave it to writers and dreamers.

The door was opened and Emma got her head inside, “We’re having a meeting to set down some new rules, I want you downstairs in ten minutes. Let’s run this thing properly”

She left and Jessica got her feet of the bed. She had a decision to make and she would have to make it soon.

And as she walked through the door, her mind worked on it.


	6. Check Up

His eyes rose to meet hers and she saw as his jaw tensed.

They had just spent hours listening to him teach them how the body worked and reacted to injuries and what they should do to increase one’s chance of survival, but they never really got the chance to talk beyond the pleasantries and the academics. Now Denise wanted everyone to get checked up to make sure there would be no surprises before they moved to their new location.

“Lucy.” he said.

“Noah.” she felt inclined to say something, but she couldn’t get anything out that could possibly sound good.

“You got married.” the doctor said, cutting straight to the point, “Any injuries?” his professional side asked, “Pain?”

“No.” she answered, “And yes, I got married”

“Your soldier friend doesn’t look thrilled about it.” he commented.

“He’s… Not the husband.”

“I never took you for a fan of european, but then…” he gave her a once over and shrugged, “Guess you really changed. I should have guessed, though, newly weds don’t sit as far apart as you and sargeant Logan. Don’t close your mouth just yet” he proceeded with his examination, “Honestly, Lucy, it hurts, but I do want you to be happy and taken care of, so…” his eyes softened and she was grateful for that.

When allowed, she closed her mouth, yet considered her next words.

“You can go now.” he interrupted before she could begin.

Lucy hesitated, but finally did as told.

  
  


“What did  _ you _ do?”

Wyatt faced the man whose eyes were focused on the notes he was taking.

“Lucy is different but not so different that I can’t tell that you probably did something for her to leave you” added Noah.

“I, uh,... We never…”

“I’m not blind” insisted the doctor, “She was interested on you when we met for your friend’s emergency” a moment as he examined the other man, “Was it about your wife? When I first saw the ring I thought you were a widower, that Lucy wouldn’t be foolish to fall for you, but…”

The soldier clenched his jaw, “May I go now, doctor?”

Noah nodded and Wyatt was about to leave when something else escaped the other man’s mouth, “Don’t do it again, don’t hurt her again”

Logan paused, shot him a look, then finally left.

  
  


“The arm should be fine in a few days, you can lose the sling in two days” the doctor informed, “And don’t let Lucy stitch you up again unless you want a nasty scar”

Garcia nodded, “You’re the boss” he analyzed the man for a moment, “Go on”

Noah faced the taller man, eyebrows up in a frown.

“Say it, whatever it is that you want to say”

The healer let out a sigh and shifted his weight between his legs, “Don’t hurt her. I don’t know you or how this marriage came to be, especially so soon after we broke up, but don’t hurt her”

Flynn smiled a bit and gave the man a nod, “Never intended to”

Noah shook his head, “You may go now, Mr. Preston”


	7. Arrangements

Jiya was out of the Lifeboat before anyone had the thought to stop her, her features impossible to be described in any friendly manner.

The sight had Denise frowning, “What happened?”

The young engineer paused and turned to the agent, “We need to decide what’s the order on Jessica” she said in a dangerous tone.  
Christopher was about to say something when Lucy came out of the ship with a somber expression, a shadow of annoyance passing her face as Wyatt followed Flynn out of the boat already shouting.

“I want him away from Jessica!” the soldier told Denise.

“What happened there?” insisted the agent.

“Jessica showed up” Lucy answered, “She’s probably Emma’s right hand now… She was coming for me and Jiya when Flynn shot at her”

“He could have killed her!” Logan yelled.

Flynn didn’t remain silent at that, “I wasn’t just gonna let her shoot Jiya and Lucy”

“Was she injured?” the agent enquired

“She got away” Lucy informed, apparently the only person calm enough in the room to give explanations.

“She’s carrying my child!” fought the soldier

“She was trying to get us all killed, Wyatt!” Jiya shot suddenly, “She and Emma got Rufus killed!”

“They wanted to get Lucy erased from history” Flynn’s tone was quiet.

“Enough! All of you!” Christopher intervened, “Flynn, you’re dismissed. Lucy, Jiya, you too. Wyatt, we have to talk”

The soldier was forced to follow the woman out of the room.

  
“We need to fix this, for Jiya,” Lucy said, then paused as she noticed Flynn had stopped for a moment before entering their room.

The new bed was there, her mattress on it. And his was back in place.

Garcia shot her a quick look before sitting on his bed across the room from hers. He watched as she did the same and glanced around.

“Christopher did it, the beds” she commented.

The man nodded briefly “I’ll not apologize for doing my job. For all I know, she could have killed you and Jiya”

The historian shook her head and faced him, “Wyatt finally has the woman he loves back and the idea of her getting hurt must be terrifying, I get where he’s coming from. Can’t blame him”

“I don’t either, but I’ll not risk this mission or you two for Jessica” a pause and he cleared his throat, looking away for an instant, “I think we should talk to Christopher”

The historian faced him, eyebrows raised.

“About Scotland” he swallowed, evaded her gaze once more, “Before the Future Team came, I saw you talking to Wyatt, I wasn’t going to say anything because we were already getting things ready to go back, but now…”

She took a moment to absorb what he was saying.

“Even if not for Wyatt, even if you don’t feel the same for him… Maybe we should go back so you don’t have to worry about it later”

Lucy focused on his eyes, he saw her swallow, “Do you… Do you think we should?”

“I think you should remember that you have the option, it shouldn't get in your way. I’m ready when you are”

She nodded, “Okay, thank you. I’m… Not in a hurry, though. I haven’t exactly been dating anyone in a while” he mirrored the small smirk she gave, “And it’s funny to watch the reactions when somebody calls you ‘Mr. Preston’”

His grin grew wider, “I’m dying to see Rufus’ face when he hears it”

“His eyes will bulge off”

He chuckled.

Lucy held his gaze then, “Also, I don’t think we could sleep like this” she indicated the space between their beds with her eyes,

“Somebody has to make sure you don’t snore”

“And that you don’t freeze to death since you always kick your covers off” he got up and she did the same.

“Think we can move them without going deaf?” the historian asked.

“Only one way to find out”

Gladly, Flynn was strong enough to carry a bed.


	8. Sides

The common room was awfully cold compared to her bed and made Lucy wrap her arms around herself to try to make it less chilly.

Even if the volume was low, the sound of the TV made her turn to it, her brows furrowed. Her gaze found Wyatt sitting on the sofa watching some late game, he had a beer on his hand and she could see a group of empty bottles on the center table. The historian saw him turn to look over his shoulder, finding her near the kitchen.

“A bit late to be up” he commented.

“I wanted some water” she lied before she could think about it, turning to the fridge.

The historian heard the couch make some noise when he moved.

“You saw what he did, didn’t you?” his voice sounded closer now and made her pause before turning around, “Would you let him kill Amy?”

“He didn’t kill Jessica and you know why he had to shoot” she answered, shoulders tense.

“He didn’t because he didn’t get the chance”

“You don’t know that” she declared, “Jessica’s pregnant, Flynn wouldn’t kill a pregnant woman”

He snorted, got his hands on his hips, “And you believe that? Really, Lucy? What are you? A Flynn expert now?”

“He’s not the enemy, Wyatt”

“Isn’t he?” his tone got louder “Because I remember having to chase after him after he kidnapped you! I remember having to hurry with Rufus because he almost got him killed!”

“And he never rose a hand against any of us since he joined the team” she stated.

His face contorted in what seemed to be disgust for a moment, “Are you sleeping with him, Lucy? Is this why you weren’t on the couch when Jessica got Jiya?”

“What I do and with who I do is none of your goddamn business, Wyatt!” she held his gaze, “He’s my friend and he never gave us a reason to question his loyalty since he got to our side”

“Your friend?” Logan chuckled, “Your friend and you’re not even trying to divorce him! What is it, Lucy? Enjoying playing house with him? For all I know there’s only one bed in that room, do you share it?”

“I believe she said it was none of your business” Garcia’s voice was heard and the pair found him standing at the entrance of the common room.

“‘Course,” Wyatt said under his breath, made his way back to the couch, grabbed his beer, turned off the TV and left, but not without bumping into the other man’s shoulder on his way out. The dirty looks he shot at the two of them also didn’t go unnoticed.

Lucy waited to hear the soldier’s steps far enough before facing the taller man, “I’m sorry for that”

“It’s fine,” he said approaching.

“Did we wake you?” she questioned, turning back to the fridge and getting the milk out of it.

“Not really. I woke when I noticed you were gone” he confessed, “Then got up when I heard you two get ‘excited’. Want some hot chocolate?”

“Yes, please” she replied, then moved away to watch him work.

“Nightmare?” he asked.

Lucy licked her lips and nodded, “Yes, couldn’t sleep afterward”

“Something you wanna talk about?” Garcia shot her a glance over his shoulder.

She shook her head in a ‘no’, “It’s just… It was hard seeing my mom in that mission after… After San Francisco”

He handed her the mug.

“Thank you” she took a sip, “I came to get some chocolate and then I found Wyatt”

“Speaking of Wyatt,” he began, arms crossing on his chest, “thank you for what you said”

A hint of a smile appeared on her lips, “You’re part of the team now, just as important as anyone else”

His arms fell to his side, “I’d normally fight you on this but I think there’s been enough chaos for today” he told her, “and I’m trying to get you to get some sleep, so…” a shrug.

She grinned a bit, “Sounds reasonable” she took another sip of her chocolate.

  
  


Wyatt stood observing the door.

He had escaped once and since Kennedy, he knew there was more than one way out. He could go, find Jessica and the baby then never have to deal with this mess again.

The picture of his daughter burned at his fingertips as he caressed it gently.

He had a decision to make.


	9. Perspective

“What is it?”

Jiya blinked a few times and turned to find Denise observing the paper under her hand, the piece where she had been sketching for a while. “I’m sorry, what was that?” the engineer frowned at the woman, who gave her a small smile then pointed at the drawing.

The younger woman paused and observed it, frowning, “I’m not sure…” she said slowly, “Is Connor up?”

“You’re the only one I’ve seen so far” the agent replied, “Are you okay, Jiya?”

The techie faced the woman and saw the concern over her features. As much as it was annoying to have people constantly worrying about her since she started having her visions, there was something motherly about Christopher’s gaze that made the younger woman grateful. This was the sight of a woman who would not risk her team if she didn’t believe the cause and that was a lot of comfort in such dark days.

“I’m getting better,” Marri said, her eyes caught sight of the woman’s watch and she looked back at the sketch, then once more to the older woman, “Do you have an old watch that I can open?”

Denise gave the woman a puzzled look, “I can check, why?”

“I think I might know what this is” she pointed at the drawing with the pencil in her hand, “I’ll let you know as soon as I get a watch.  If I’m right, I’ll need the equipment”

Christopher nodded, “I’ll get that arranged. What are you thinking?”

“How to draw the attention away,” the younger woman said, but her words clearly made the agent more confused, “There’s a theory that says that particles change behavior depending on an observer. I want the observer not to be there, so we open the possibilities”

Agent Christopher crossed her arms on her chest, gave the paper a quick look, “Should I call Connor?”

“No, no rush. We’ll have to do a lot of brainstorming and math and quantum psychics review, but there isn’t really much we can’t do without the equipment”

Denise shook her head, “I’ll get as much as possible of it here. Have you slept?”

“Yes,” the younger woman told her, watching as she moved towards the kitchen.

“I think I’ll make some pancakes, why don’t you check if anybody wants some?”

“Will do,” the techie said, getting up from her chair.

“Jiya” the voice stopped her and she glanced over her shoulder, “You’re doing a great job, we’ll have Rufus back soon”

The engineer shook her head, “Thank you, Agent Christopher”

The older woman smiled and watched her leave.

  
  


She heard a page turn and felt a gentle pull along with the brush of his fingers against her head as he played with a strand of her hair. The pleasure of the caress made her a tad more resistant to the idea of getting up. 

The sound of her sigh, however, made something change and the rhythm of his increased a bit. She heard as he lowered the book to his stomach and could feel his eyes on her.

“Don’t stop” the historian muttered and could almost see him smiling.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

After Wyatt and after the chocolate, they talked about a lot and nothing, Garcia always following her lead on the conversation until she was too tired and finally got to sleep. He had successfully got her mind out of the nightmare and away from whatever painful subject that could cause another nightmare. The exhaustion and his attention probably what made her mind quiet for the rest of the night.

“Better” Lucy said.

“Do you know there’s a word in Brazilian Portuguese for this? Running your fingers through someone’s hair?” he asked.

“Hm?”

“They call it ‘cafuné’. You see, there are specialized sensory neurons at the base of hair follicles, they release these feel-good chemicals in our body. That’s why ‘cafuné’ feels especially good and makes us calmer”

She smiled, “How do you know that?”

“I googled it one day”

The historian chuckled and so did he. She finally opened her eyes and raised them to him.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just that you’re full of surprises, you always know something nobody expects you to”

“I have to pass the mysterious genius vibe” he winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

Her gaze lowered to the book he was reading and she frowned, “Is this my copy of  _ Pride and Prejudice _ ?”

He glanced down to the book on his stomach, “Ah, yes. I figured you wouldn’t mind”

“I don’t, just didn’t expect you to read Austen”

“I never really did, then I saw it laying around and decided ‘Why not?’”

“How do you like it?”

“So far I think Wickham is lying his bowels out and that Darcy is in deep trouble”

“Why?” she couldn’t hold back a smirk.

“Because he was clearly a goner the moment he started complimenting her eyes”

The historian seemed amused, closed her eyes for a long moment.

“How many times have you read it?” he asked, fingers still playing between strands of her hair.

“Three, I believe. I think you’ll like it… Just don’t let anyone see you reading it”

“They wouldn’t dare to make a comment”

“Christopher would”

“Agent Christopher is allowed to comment”

“Jiya and Rufus would have you sent to see a doctor if they caught you reading  _ Pride and Prejudice _ ”

He grinned, “You mean after Rufus gathered the courage to ask if I was okay”

She chuckled, “Yes... What time is it?”

Flynn moved to check his watch when they heard a knock on the door and Jiya opened it without waiting much.

The young woman paused as she saw them and Lucy turned and sat up to face the engineer.

“Uh, hey. Ah, Christopher is making pancakes for us, so… Yeah, breakfast” the techie said and got out without another word, but with cheeks a bit pink.

Garcia glanced over to Lucy, who was still on the bed, she faced him for a moment.

“Think we traumatized her?” Flynn asked.

The historian didn't answer right away.

  
  


Wyatt walked into the common room with his hair still a bit wet from the shower he took after some training with the punching bag Christopher had managed to get them.

He found Jiya eating pancakes while Denise at her side reading some article on her phone. The younger woman gave some curious glances over to a blushing Lucy who was just laying two mugs on the table. One for her, another for Flynn who seemed very busy chewing his pancakes and reading some book to notice the unspoken communication between the techie and the historian.

Whatever Jiya knew was making Lucy agitated and Wyatt didn’t even want to wonder what could it be. He just greeted everyone and found a plate with pancakes left for him. 

The soldier observed the team for a while before Christopher finally put her phone down, swallowed a bit of her food and spoke up.

“I want you guys to pack” she informed, “I found a place, we’re leaving tomorrow at dawn. I’ll take Connor first, so we can help Jiya get the Lifeboat to the new location. I want you ready by midnight, we can’t have any of you being seen out there”

“Where is it?” Jiya asked.

“The less you know about it now the better” the agent informed.

“So it’s gonna be like last time?” questioned the soldier.

She faced him, “This place is bigger, we’ll have more rooms, but it’s more isolated”

“More isolated than a bunker?” Connor questioned from his armchair, raising his eyes from his books.

“That’s why I got Noah to teach you while we were still here. We’ll be more distant from hospitals, but it’ll be safer”

“When are we leaving?” Mason asked.

“I’ll get you there around ten, so get your boxes ready as soon as you can” she turned to the rest of the team, “Get everything that can be traced back to us. Also, I want you two to see if there’s anything useful on that Rittenhouse junk before we leave” she told Jiya and Connor, “You’ll have better equipment in the new safehouse to examine whatever is useful”

The younger woman nodded.

“And the rest of the things?” Logan questioned.

“Will be there too. I’ll leave extra guns with you and Flynn before I leave with Connor just in case the location is already compromised”

“And if the Mothership jumps before the transition?” Lucy asked.

“Jiya will have the location of another place to land when you come back from the mission” the agent informed and got up from her seat, “I need to arrange a few things. Jiya, Connor, I’ll let you know when we’re ready to get the ship out of here and will get you the details later. The rest of you, gather your boxes, we’re leaving this fish can”

She walked away and the group exchanged glances.


	10. Ready to Go

There was nothing particularly remarkable about the ceiling, regardless of what her lingering gaze might make one believe.

No vision of the future could make her grasp the power of a place over a person. Give her an idea of how she could be glad and sorry that their time in this place was over.

Familiarity made her sorry. Space (or the lack of it) and memory made her glad.

Jiya heard the steps as they approached, yet made no move to acknowledge them.

“Do tell me you’re not getting nostalgic over this bloody hellhole” Connor provoked as he got closer to the station.

The techie turned to face him, “Are you done packing all those disks of yours?”

“LPs” he corrected, “and yes… Well, most of them anyway” His eyes found the sketch over the table, “Is that…?”

“A design for the prototype,” she told, “It was done before I noticed”

He took the paper and examined the drawing, “Might work… Have you checked it?”

“Not yet, but I think we might be able to make it fit into this. Do you have an old watch?”

Connor touched the one he was wearing in an impulse, “Not really, why?”

The young woman’s mouth tugged a bit to the side, “I think we can fit the prototype in the shape of a watch”

He seemed to consider for a moment, “It might just work. It certainly would be a good irony”

She gave him a slight nod, pressed her lips together, “How much longer do you think this will take?”

“Hopefully, not much. It’s getting tedious, honestly”

Jiya chuckled, “What? Saving the world from the neo-Nazi conspiracy not good enough for you?”

“You should spend less time with Flynn, you’re starting to sound like him” the man pointed out, “And I need something new. A proper challenge. Connor Mason will be great again, dear Jiya, mark my words”

She smiled at that.

“I should probably go really pack now before Agent Christopher gets here. Aren’t you supposed to be packing too?”

“It’s done” the engineer informed, causing him to blink a few times.

“Psychics” was all he muttered after a chuckle.

  
  


“Have you seen the burgundy turtleneck?” his question had something to the tone that made her believe he might just know the answer to his own question.

“Have you checked the laundry?” the historian suggested.

“I did, as I did everywhere else” he crossed his arms on his chest, “Are you sure you don’t know where it is, Lucy?”

He knew.

“Ah… Now that you mentioned…” she began, her hands went through the items inside her bag, “Yeah, here it is” she pulled the piece out to him.

“Keep it for now,” Flynn told her, much to Preston’s surprise.

“Okay,” she answered with a small smile, putting the wine colored turtleneck back with her clothes.

Garcia zipped up his bag.

“What did Noah tell you?”

He frowned at the question, turned to find her finishing up her own things, “Afraid I scared him?”

Lucy shot him a look.

“He really liked you” Flynn finally said, “Warned me not to hurt you… So… You don’t remember dating him?”

The historian shook her head, “No… He assumed I was with Wyatt, last time I saw him was… Well, you weren’t even a part of the team yet”

“Common mistake,” the former NSA said.

She swallowed, “This is a mess”

He paused, turning his complete attention to her.

“Jessica, Noah, Rufus…” she continued.

“We’ll figure it all out in time” he assured.

“And then what?” Lucy met his eyes, “What happens when this is over?”

Garcia sighed and held her gaze, “I might not have the gift of seeing the future like Jiya, but I know we can make of it what we want, Lucy. We’ll end these bastards”

She smiled, then gave him a nod, “What will you do then?”

He shrugged, “A part of it I already told you, what happens after that… I’m not sure, but I think I’m open to possibilities”

The moment lingered.

A knock.

“Come in,” Flynn said

Jiya opened the door almost shyly.

“Yes?” he asked.

“I, uh, we have to leave in an hour, but… I can’t find Wyatt anywhere”


	11. Out of Place

Connor Mason was not supposed to be dead, nor was he a wanted man. Denise’s biggest concern had been being followed to the location and getting out of there unharmed. So making Connor “forget” something was easy, it made him take longer and made Christopher lower her guard. That was when he slipped out.

The second time Wyatt Logan escaped the bunker, no alarms went off on him, he had a lot of time before anyone noticed he was missing, they’d only come looking for him in a few hours and that gave him plenty of time to act.

He was out of the building quickly. 

His hair now back to its military style and his beard undone. It was just the beginning of his journey and the disguise would do for now. 

He wasn’t about to let Rittenhouse find him easily, he would find them first.

  
  


As the moment of silence stretched, Jiya felt like she was about to scream at Agent Christopher so she would say something. The young woman was about to speak up again when the agent finally gave her an answer.

_ “Stay where you are, I’m sending a soldier,” _ she said.

“We have a soldier” Lucy frowned at the fact that she had to say it, giving Jiya and Flynn a look.

_ “Flynn is not going with Jiya and neither are you, Lucy”  _ informed Denise,  _ “Jiya will bring the Lifeboat, I’ll have the two of you escorted here with the files and the things we need” _

“They can’t be seen in public” the techie reminded.

_ “No, they cannot, that’s why my men have others to give you what need not to look like yourselves” _ the agent explained,  _ “You’ll be safe, I’ll see to it myself. You’ll be with us in the safehouse in a couple of days” _

“How far are we talking about?” questioned Flynn.

_ “Far and safe enough” _ was all answer they got.

“What about Wyatt?” Lucy asked.

_ “Wyatt went rogue on us and I’ll handle this myself” _

“We know why he did this, you can’t punish him for trying to protect his family” the historian insisted.

_ “I never said anything about punishment. Don’t worry about Wyatt, he’ll be taken care of” _

“What is that even supposed to mean?” Jiya could hardly believe her ears.

_ “Trust me” _

“Who is your soldier?” Flynn enquired.

_ “A familiar face to Jiya and Lucy, he’s clean” _

“Who?” Lucy frowned.

_ “Dave Baumgardner, a friend of Wyatt’s. Delta force” _

“But Bam Bam is dead”

_ “What?” _

“What?”

“What?”

Everyone faced Lucy and then it hit her, “Nevermind. In our timeline, Bam Bam was killed after Wyatt was replaced for stealing the Lifeboat”

_ “Wyatt stole the Lifeboat?” _

“Jessica was dead in our original timeline, he was trying to get her back and failed” the historian faced her husband, “One of Flynn’s guys killed Bam Bam back on the Charles Lindbergh assignment”

“Wyatt was shot on that mission,” Garcia told her, “but no one died”

“I guess so” Preston commented.

_ “Dave Baumgardner is very much alive and on his way. He’ll get to you with your ride, so be ready to leave. Now, I’m gonna take care of Wyatt and Connor. We’ll talk later” _

Denise hung up and the trio exchanged glances.

“Don’t worry, Bam Bam is a good guy, very smart. Just give him a proper gun” Lucy assured Jiya.

The younger woman swallowed, “Where do you think Wyatt went?”

“He probably went looking for Rittenhouse, trying to find Jessica” the historian tried.

“Let’s just hope the genius doesn’t get himself killed in the process” commented Flynn.

“We could try to track him” suggested the engineer.

“He doesn’t want to be found. At least, not by us” Lucy said.

Marri sighed, “Do you think Jessica will listen to him?”

“I don’t know” the older woman confessed.

“So what do we do no?” the techie asked.

Garcia sat down on the table and shot the hallway a look, “We wait for Bam Bam”

  
  


The cashier gave little attention to the man as he paid for the phone, not really caring that he was paying in cash or that he checked his surroundings often enough to be discreet but too much to be a normal person.

Wyatt walked out of the store and opened the phone, he typed a familiar number and wrote a text with only numbers, the letter J, and signed “sweetheart” to a “babydoll”.


	12. On the move

Dave Baumgardner arrived on schedule, formally dressed and with a smile on his lips. “You must be Ms. Marri, and Mr. and Professor Flynn. Agent Christopher briefed me on the details, I have to say I’ve to admit it’s hard to believe, but it’s not my job to question. I only follow orders”

“It’s good to see you, Master Sergeant Baumgardner, Wyatt spoke well of you,” the historian said, “You can call me Lucy”

“And do call me Jiya” requested the engineer.

“As you wish” the soldier gave them a nod, “And Baumgardner or Bam Bam, please” the attention turned to Flynn.

“Flynn is fine,” the taller man said.

Bam Bam only agreed, “The other agents are waiting in the car for you two” he informed, then faced Jiya, “Are we ready to go?”

The younger woman exchanged glances with the other two members of the Time Team, “Guess I’ll see you in a couple of days”

The historian went and gave her a small hug, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine and so will we”

“Be careful out there, both of you” the techie said, gaze lingering on Flynn, “Take good care of her”

“Always” he assured before his eyes met Lucy’s, then Bam Bam’s, “Look after her, she’s  special”

Jiya rolled her eyes at him.

“We should get going,” the historian told and her husband nodded.

Marri watched as they left before glancing over to Baumgardner, “Welcome to the Time Team, big guy. We have chocodiles”

  
  


Denise laid her old watch down on the table near the computers of the new station.

“Jiya asked you for one too?” Connor asked as he saw the object.

The woman smiled and placed her hand on her pockets, “Yes, I hope it helps”

“I hope so too,” he said, then a noise made him raise his eyes, “Do you hear this?”

“What?”

Before he could answer, Mason saw the papers starting to rise and rushed to gather them, but they were sent flying through the place before he could do much about it.

The familiar wind and noise announced the arrival of the Lifeboat, making Denise smile.

“We’ll need new paperweights,” she said as she watched the hatch open.

Mason got to the stairs in a quick stride and placed them helpfully at the entrance of the time machine.

Bam Bam was the first one to come out of the ship, studying his surroundings with caution before smiling at Agent Christopher and Connor. Jiya followed him out of the boat.

“Are you sure you’re not even a bit nauseous?” the now pale engineer asked.

“I’m sure. Are you okay, though?” the soldier questioned.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine” replied the young woman avoiding his gaze and she tried to calm down her stomach. Once she noticed the place she faced Agent Christopher, “Please, tell me we’re not sleeping here on the underground again.”

Denise smiled, “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house”

“House? Like a real house?”

The agent’s smile grew, “I told you it was bigger”

  
  


Agents Brigham and Shepard were discreet, they did as Agent Christopher had instructed them, asked no questions and avoided unnecessary interactions, but when they did talk, they were very helpful and pleasant.

However, as much as she appreciated them, Lucy waited until the pair had left the car and were out of earshot to make her confession.

“Wyatt texted me,” she said, eyes focused on the two agents making their way to the hotel.

Flynn watched her face, “What did he say?”

“He sent a bunch of numbers, I think they’re coordinates” the historian passed him her mobile.

The former NSA studied the message, “He better be using a burner” the man muttered, “Jiya worked on your phone?”

“Yes, it’s safe”

Garcia tilted his head a bit, “You can never be too safe. Don’t use any other than the ones Jiya or Connor already worked on, Rittenhouse might be able to track them”

“Do I want to know what you know about phones and espionage?”

“Do you want to be paranoid for life?”

“No”

“Then no”

He shook her head.

“They aren’t coordinates, but they are meant to look like they are. I’m assuming ‘J’ is Jessica”

“I think so too. I’m guessing she knows what these numbers mean”

“Should I ask about the endearments?”

“Undercover nicknames from the Bonnie and Clyde mission so I know it’s him”

Flynn gave the cell phone back to her, “What will you do?”

Lucy met his eyes, “Deliver the message, I think”

“It’s risky”

“That’s why I need you to back me up,” she said and waited for his response.

Garcia licked his lips and observed the world outside, “We have to careful, Lucy”

“I know. Will you help me?”

He let out a sigh and turned to her, “Anytime”

The historian gave him a small smile and kissed the corner of his mouth, “Thank you”

She saw him glance down for a moment and, in the darkness of the vehicle, she wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination or if she actually saw him blush a bit before he turned once more to check on the agents.

Brigham approached the car and got his head inside to talk to the pair, “We’ve got rooms for the night”


	13. For what it is

“She’s beautiful, you’re a lucky man”

Garcia raised his eyes to meet the ones of the old lady and smiled at her before passing her the money and closing his wallet, the picture of Lucy getting hidden on it once more. “I am”

“Is this for her?” the lady asked about the package waiting to be picked up by him.

“Ah, yes, midnight snack,” he told her.

They had been on the road since they left the bunker, it was only on the second night that agents Shepard and Brigham got them to a hotel. They had stopped a few times and their unusual schedule asked for a late dinner, even if it was just burgers, fries and milkshakes. Flynn would make sure that they ate properly on the new safehouse.

“Is she your girlfriend?” the lady question a mischievous look on her eyes and an amused smile on her lips.

“Actually,” he said getting his wallet back on his pocket, “the pretty lady is my wife”

“Wow, now that’s a lucky man”

“You’ve no idea” the former NSA commented and picked up the bag, “Good night”

“Good night, darling”

He walked out of the diner.

Garcia would have to get the picture out of his wallet, it could draw attention. It was an old picture of Lucy he used back when they were chasing each other through time, it laid there along with old pictures of Lorena and Iris and he never reminded himself to get it out of there.

He made a mental note to get all of the pictures safe at the first chance he got.

  
  


Flynn made sure to tear the page he was writing on and the one beneath it, just to make sure the numbers didn’t fall on the wrong hands. He would have to remember himself to burn both pieces the next day.

“Did Agent Brigham tell you where we’re going?” Lucy asked once got back from the bathroom.

“No, he gave me some coordinates, though, said I wasn’t supposed to check them until tomorrow at dawn” he answered, “The last part of the road we’re doing on our own”

She sat down on the bed and studied him for a moment, “The fewer people knowing the location the better”

He nodded.

“Did you figured anything out from Wyatt’s numbers?”

“No, and that’s good. Whatever it is only Jessica will understand” 

Lucy agreed, “Thank you for helping with this. I know it’s dangerous but…”

“He’s still your friend”

“Yes”

The historian lowered herself on the bed by his side.

Brigham and Shepard knew little about them, but were professional enough not to ask about the sleeping arrangements and the rings on their fingers were probably enough of an explanation. There was no reason to delve into the complications of their relationship.

“Lights out?” Flynn asked.

“I thought you were going to read”

“No, too tired”

“Okay”

He killed the lights and got himself comfortable on the bed.

She licked her lips, a thought in her mind, hesitation on her chest. Then five seconds of insane courage, “‘Cafuné’, is it?”

Garcia chuckled deep on his throat, “Come here” he pulled her close gently, allowed her to lay her head on his chest while his fingers started playing between the strands of her hair. Felt her relax against his form and kissed the top of her head.

“What are we doing?” the question sounded loud in the darkness, in the quietness of the room.

Flynn swallowed. He knew this would happen at some point, it was merely a matter of when.

His fingers paused and she closed her eyes, feeling the loss, sensing as he tensed under her.

“Everybody sees it” she murmured.

“It’s nobody’s business” he replied into the dark.

“This can’t be smart”

“It can be whatever you want it to be”

Lucy rose on her elbow, kept a hand on his chest as she met his eyes, the intensity of her gaze could have made a lesser man tremble. He couldn’t help gazing at her lips. “And what is it that you want? Why are you here, Flynn?”

His lips parted and he felt exposed, bare-chested in a way only she managed to make him. The journal told him a lot about a version of her, still, sometimes he wondered if she wasn’t the one who had been given a map to his soul. The way she could render him speechless was almost disturbing. It certainly made him agitated.

The historian did not wait for an answer, she might not need one.

At that moment she looked confident, yet her eyes told him she was about to make an experiment, and he would not stop her, didn’t have it in him to do so. Neither the strength nor the will.

Lucy closed the distance, felt their parted lips brush against each other, breaths mixing. Heard a low sound that might have come from either of them and got suddenly very conscious of his fingers on the back of her neck.

They could hardly breathe.

When she finally kissed him, he let out a low groan and pulled her close, tasted her lips slowly, took as much time as she did in her exploration.

There was no denying the warmth in the air, the way it surrounded them and threatened to make one of them sweat. She felt it. The heat, the want. Felt as it awoke on her core, felt at the hardening of her nipples.

A kiss became two and three and more. And then she was breathing hard and so was he. Her hand had closed in a fist and was pulling at his shirt.

And it would be easy. Easy to slide over his lap, get out of any piece of clothing, ride him hard and slow, surrender to whatever it was that was going on between them.

But that was not what she wanted, it didn’t feel fair and she knew it.

They broke apart and looked into each other’s eyes. There was no denying what had just happened and both their reactions to it.

“Flynn…” she muttered, sounding lost. He shifted, kissed the corner of her mouth, her cheek and then her forehead, making this last one linger.

Finally, he pulled her back to his chest, played with her hair between his fingers, feeling her relax against him.

“What are we doing?” the question came once more.

“I don’t know” he confessed.

Lucy licked her lips, his taste lingering there, “I don’t want to stop”

His heart might have skipped a bit and he kissed the top of her head again, “I don’t either”

She could have kissed him again, but there was no trusting herself right now if she did, so she closed her eyes and allowed herself to sleep into his arms as she had done before. This time something had shifted. She could not name it but didn’t think she had to. That was how things were between them most of the time, unspoken.


	14. Revealed

The banging on the door made her rise in a jolt. Confused and rubbing her eyes, Lucy heard more of the noise and caught sight of Flynn grabbing a gun and moving on the shadows towards the door.

The historian reached over to the bedside table and got the weapon Shepard had given her. Her gaze met the one of her husband and he noticed the gun, went to open the door and waited until she was in the position to cover him.

“It’s Brigham!” a yell announced and Preston gave Garcia a surprised glance, yet he seemed to be considering something before he got back on attack mode and opened the door. Gun ready.

“What?” asked the Croatian man in a low tone.

Brigham took a quick look around, “You have to leave” he handed the other man a black package, “The car has a few extra plates in case you need them, switch vehicles if you can. Don’t go straight to the safehouse”

“What happened?”

“The lady in the diner? Rittenhouse, she recognized you” the agent told him, “We took care of her but the hotel owner was her friend and is asking questions. More agents will come. Get your wife and go. Now! Get ready, I’ll meet you at the car in five”

The door was closed and Garcia moved, grabbed the papers where his notes were, the bag where they got clothes for the night and started undressing. “We need to leave. Now”

The historian followed his lead.

  
  


He had rid them of any evidence they could have left in the room and she had the bag ready and their guns in place. The contents of the black package Brigham had given them now familiar to the former NSA and he knew just what to do and where to go.

“Can you zip me?” Lucy had her cheeks going red as she asked him, making the man pause for a moment. The first pause he had had since their rude awakening.

The damned dress she had chosen had a zipper that normally would not have been a problem - actually it would have saved them a lot of time - if she had the time to do it her own way so she could reach it and be done with it. But the item was clearly not made for an emergency dress up and she had just found that out the worst way possible.

Flynn approached right away, ready to help.

“So much for quick clothes” she let out a nervous laugh at her own comment.

“It’s fine” he observed, pulling the zipper all the way up her back.

She swallowed because, for a moment, he was distracted and all this tension to leave along with the usual tension around them was a hell of a lot.

Garcia finished the job quickly though, a cough was heard after he was done and the man took their bag, turned towards the door and she couldn’t help but grab his wrist, making him face her, catch her giving a hesitant glance towards the door. Lucy couldn’t help but be reminded of Bonnie and Clyde.

“Lucy” he called and she heard, faced him and closed the distance, kissed him full on the lips, taking the man by surprise.

It was over as soon as it began and their eyes met, “We’re gonna be fine”

She grabbed his hand with a hand and kept the other one close to the gun hiding beneath her dress. He nodded and opened the door, getting out of the room and rushing with her to the garage.

“Over here” Brigham called out near a dark vehicle they hadn’t seen before, “Everything is inside,” he said once they were close to him.

“They’re coming” agent Shepard announced entering the garage, “You two have to go now”

Flynn nodded and got their things inside the car, finding everything they had gotten from the bunker inside the back.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Lucy told the agents.

“Just doing our job, ma’am” Brigham assured with a smile.

“Be careful” Garcia said and faced his wife, nodding to her.

They got inside the car and Lucy had the chance to see Shepard tense and turn to their opposite direction, saw the agent grab her gun, aiming and shooting a few times. 

Flynn wasted no time getting them away, yet kept his gun close and had Preston lower her head.

Shots were heard along with the sound of glass shattering. The historian couldn’t see much, but the car was moving fast and her partner cursed a few times. Stealing a glimpse she saw blood outside their window and her breath caught for a moment. Flynn lowered his head at some point, then checked his surroundings and got back straight on his seat, not for a minute going any slower.

Her heart was beating fast on her ribcage and could feel the chaos still going on inside her even when he got both his hands on the steering wheel, allowing her to finally rise.

There was some blood in their window and a bunch of questions in her mind.

  
  


“Okay, thank you. I’ll call you back” Denise said and hang up.

“What happened?” Jiya asked from behind the agent, making the woman turn.

The engineer was wearing a big Star Trek shirt, had a cereal bowl in her hand and her hair was pulled in a messy ponytail, yet her eyes were alert and she had all her focus on Christopher as if she had sensed something was off.

“We had a situation with Flynn and Lucy, a Rittenhouse agent recognized them” she informed and saw the younger woman tense and open her mouth to say something, “They are fine” she was quick to add, “They are fine, we had a plan in case things went wrong. They’re on the road now”

“We should go get them,” Jiya said, “I can find them through Lucy’s phone”

“They’re on the run now, we can try to locate them and, if it’s safe, we can try to get them. But they are out of danger now and they have a backup plan with them” the agent assured.

“We need them” insisted the techie.

“And we’ll do everything we can to get them back as soon as possible, but I need you to trust me, Jiya”

The woman sighed and laid her bowl on the kitchen island. “What about Wyatt? Anything on him?”

“I have someone on him, they’ll not hurt him, they’ll just keep me posted and keep him out of trouble” the agent informed.

“What do we do then?” the engineer questioned, arms crossed on her chest.

“You and Connor can get back to work. Has the prototype worked?” Christopher prompted.

“Yes” Jiya nodded, “We need to run another test, but we’re good so far”

“Excellent, I have something in mind on how to get Rufus back. If what I understood right what you told me about San Francisco and the prototype, it’ll be simpler than we thought”

“How long until we get him?”

“We just need to get Flynn and Lucy back”

The techie shook her head, then got her bowl back, “I’ll let Connor know and we’ll finish up with the tests” she left the room.

There were vibration and Denise saw her phone notifying her of a text. A text to Lucy’s phone from an unknown number. She opened it and read the content, then she strode away from the kitchen, rushing to get to the secret area of the basement.


	15. After the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had the special participation of a character from another series I adore, I hope you can figure it out.  
> Clue: He's tied to the hotel.  
> I challenge you to name the character that appeared, his mother and the sheriff. ;D

Her eyes opened when she heard him enter the room and she felt the shift as he sat down on the bed. Lucy turned to give him a look and his eyes fell on her as he finally began to get himself out of the clothes he had been on all day.

“Sorry, if I woke you” he muttered, getting his gun on the bedside table. The rain outside made his words almost disappear in the air.

“You didn’t” she turned her form to him, “What happened there?”

Flynn sighed and swallowed, “Two cars, four guys. I counted three bodies before we left. They got Brigham, Shepard killed the other two”

“The blood on our window...?”

“Brigham’s, apparently,” he told her in a quiet tone and went silent for an instant, shook his head a bit and focused on the bed sheets, “They knew that Rittenhouse was an enemy, but I doubt Christopher told them how bad the situation was”

“What happens next?”

“Shepard will probably want to avenge her partner”

“I don’t doubt she will”

“I just hope Christopher talks her out of it. As much as I appreciate the idea of help, it won’t be of any good and we’ve already lost enough people to Rittenhouse”

The historian nodded.

He got up and out of the shirt he was wearing, “We’ll need to be careful tomorrow”

“Rittenhouse?” she tried but he denied.

“There’s a police car parked near the big house” he explained looking over his shoulder before getting another shirt on, “Sheriff's car. Got here while I was paying the hotel owner. She told me not to worry, her husband is the sheriff of the village”

“Did he see you?”

“Saw me get into the room, not my face”

Preston sighed in relief and looked away when she heard him undoing his pants, “Brigham didn’t deserve that”

“No one does” he observed.

“I wonder if they got to Wyatt” she confessed.

Garcia shook his head, “He left with something planned out, probably took care of his appearance and he had little on him”

Lucy blinked and frowned, “What do you mean?”

Dressed, he sat on the bed by her side, “The lady in the diner didn’t just recognize me, she saw an old picture of you I had in my wallet from back when I was trying to get you three off me so I could take down Rittenhouse. She put two and two together and Brigham died for it”

“It’s not your fault, there was no way you could know”

“They’re everywhere around history, Lucy. Careful was the minimum that I had to be… Blaming myself won’t fix it, though, but fighting them might”

Flynn laid down on the bed, turned to meet her eyes, “I checked the info, we’ll get to the safehouse tomorrow night”

“Did you see it?”

He denied, “Only coordinates on the data Brigham gave me, but I doubt Christopher would get us in a tight space like last time”

“Got crowded quickly”

“I wouldn’t mind sleeping in a proper bed without having to worry about the fact that our host is married to the police. I’m also locking all the doors just in case we end up with another Rittenhouse agent around the safehouse”

“I hope Wyatt knows what he’s doing” she commented.

“I have to admit I do too. It’s not going to be pretty when Emma finds out that he went rogue, she’ll want Jessica to prove herself”

“And proving yourself to Rittenhouse is never something nice to have to do,” the historian said, making him pause. The question in his eyes was never voiced, not that he needed to, “Another time” she promised and he accepted it, “I just hope this ends well, for all of us”

Flynn shifted on the bed and let out a sigh, his eyes focused on the ceiling, “Getting to the safehouse and saving Rufus is all that matters for now. Emma can wait”

“We’ll get to her, she’ll pay for it. For Brigham, for Rufus, for my mom, for my sister, for everything” she watched him, “She’s not taking anything else from us”

Her hand covered his on the bed and entwined their fingers. He turned his head to her and met her eyes.

Garcia touched her cheek and in an almost shy movement, leaned closer, tasted her lips on his own in a gentle and slow kiss.

It was much calmer than the one from that morning and more tender too. Lucy broke it in the same calm, then turned on the bed, laid on her side, shifted so she’d be close him.

He took in the scent of her hair against his nose and held her form against his own, her back against his chest and he kissed her shoulder before he closed his eyes and finally allowed himself to relax after such day. 

  
  


The sound of knocking on the door woke her up and she heard Flynn groan, he shifted when the noise came again and she was forced to slip away from his arms. The historian paused and got his gun from the bedside table before going to the door and opening it.

Lucy was greeted with the sight of the smiling hotel owner’s son, “Good morning, miss. I wouldn’t normally have bothered you, I’m Norman, my mom and I run the motel and, uh,... This lady said she wanted to speak to you”

The dark haired boy stepped aside and the historian caught sight of Jiya, with Bam Bam just a few steps behind the techie. “Hey there! Time to go home, we gotta find Rufus!”


	16. Settling

Lucy observed her surroundings with curiosity when Jiya got to the end of the stairs and stopped by her side. “Don’t worry, it’s bigger than it looks” the engineer assured her.

“Anything we should know about this emergency call?” asked Flynn.

“We heard about your incident” Denise explained joining them, “Come, I’ll show you the house”

“House?” the Croatian man questioned not believing his ears.

“Yes, this is just a part of the basement” said the agent leading them out of there, “I wanted you to come using the car so you could have an idea of the area, the distance between us and civilization, but this has gotten too risky too quickly” she told opening a door and taking them to what looked like a regular basement before making her way up the stairs ahead of them.

“We heard about the shooting” Jiya told them.

“Bam Bam will take care of the car and of getting the rest of your things here” the agent continued once they got to the first floor, “We've got a kitchen, a living room, a dining room and a backyard” she pointed to more stairs, “The bedrooms and bathrooms are on the second floor”

“How did you get this place?” Garcia questioned, an eyebrow raised.

“I assure you none of you want to know the answer for that,” she said, “It’s pretty and nice now, but it hasn’t been like this in a while. What matters is: it’s ours for now and it’s safe”

“You do know that when Rufus get back he’ll ask questions and he’ll say things about murders and poltergeists, right?” commented Flynn.

“That’s what I told her,” Jiya said.

“We’ll deal with Rufus once we get him back. As for the ghosts, I’m sure all of you have dealt with worse” Denise gave them a look and made her way to the second floor.

They stopped before one of the doors and she opened it, revealing a good sized bedroom. Lucy caught sight of the bed first and turned to the agent, who just shrugged.

“I got the two of you separate beds once and next thing I knew they were pulled together, might as well just have one big bed”

The historian’s cheeks went pink and she heard Garcia clear his throat.

“What? Jiya caught you, we all know. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I’m not getting in the way. Just do your job and we’re good” she assured, “Now, I’ll leave you two to it. We’ll talk later”

Jiya and Denise left them in the room, closing the door as they did. Lucy and Flynn exchanged glances and he shrugged before getting his bag down on the floor near what he had already declared his side of the bed.

“Guess we got the comfortable bed” he commented.

“I think we did,” she said sitting down on it and glancing around “We got shelves too”

“A lot of them… Are we getting this predictable?” he smirked at her, making a face.

“Maybe”

He started moving around, exploring the room, then opened a door and paused. “We have our own bathroom”

“We do?” she followed him.

“Whoever was the killer that lost this house, I’m thanking him” Garcia grinned. “Wanna go first?”

“No, you can go first, I want to unpack”

“Okay”

  
  


“How’s Wickham?” she asked before getting by his side on the bed.

Flynn read a last line then placed the marker and faced her, putting the book down on the bedside table. “I was right. Or a bit. He wasn’t lying exactly as I thought, but he wasn’t telling the whole truth”

She smiled at him, “What do you think of the book?”

“I can totally understand the appeal, it’s well written” he replied and studied her for a moment, “Are you okay? These last days have been chaotic”

Lucy nodded, “I’m surprisingly good. We should get some practice, though, be more prepared to a situation like the one with Brigham and Shepard”

He agreed, “We can arrange that”

Garcia saw something in her eyes and opened his mouth to address it, but she was quicker and after a moment straddled him, gaze meeting his in a questioning manner as if asking if that was okay. The way he studied her face in response and showed no signs of opposition to the idea causing her to relax.

Flynn waited as she made up her mind, decided what to do. And was rewarded with the soft press of her lips against his, to which he gladly responded in kind.

One became two, three, then four and a few more, and soon his hands were running up and down her back, while she had her own playing with the hair in the back of his neck. A tender moment lingering between them and her hands moved down, tugged at the end of his shirt, pulling it up and out of the way.

He pulled her closer into his lap by the waist, mouth reaching down her jaw and neck, planting a trail of kisses as he went. Her body responded to him with ease, his ministrations as pleasant as they were distracting, and soon her own blouse was laying somewhere on the floor.

The historian kissed him full on the lips again, felt his hands moving up her sides, one of them teasing at the fabric of her bra, fingers reaching out to undo it and get her out of the piece.

The alarm sounded and they broke apart in surprise.

They searched on each other’s eyes in a moment of confusion, before rushing to get their clothes back on.

“Later?” he proposed once his shirt was back on.

Lucy gave him a small smile, pulled him close by the hand and gave him one last kiss before they walked out of the room.

  
  


“August 5, 1945” Denise announced as they entered the isolated area of the basement.

“The Hiroshima bombing is on the 6th” Jiya commented.

“I doubt anything good can come from Emma around these bombings,” the historian said already walking to the Lifeboat, “We have to be quick, preferably get there before the Enola Gay takes off”

“Don’t wait up, kids” Flynn said before joining Jiya and Lucy on the ship.

The hatch closed.


	17. Options

Wyatt was nowhere to be seen and a part of her was very grateful to that. The other part of her knew she had a job to do.

Jessica Logan kept watch with a few other men inside the warehouse. The two were to follow her orders unless Emma said otherwise and right now their mission was to protect the bomb until Whitmore returned.

A hissing sound and the man to her left fell, she prepared her gun and heard the one to her right fall too. She turned around and found Garcia Flynn aiming at her.

“Do you ever get tired of this?” she questioned.

“How could I? It’s always so much fun!” he mocked with a smirk.

“Flynn” Lucy’s voice was heard in a tone that made him lower his weapon. 

Frowning at the sight, Jessica mirrored his actions and saw the historian come into sight and get between them. “What?”

“I have something for you,” Preston said and took a paper from the pocket of her burgundy dress, offered it to the blonde, “Wyatt sent me this message, he wanted me to give it to you”

“Where’s he?” Logan questioned.

“We don’t know, we haven’t seen him in days”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your husband ran,” Garcia told her, “He gave Lucy this, so she could give it to you”

“Jessica, I know what is it like to be one of them and we both know it’s dangerous and Emma is unstable”

“I should kill the two of you right here”

“You could, honestly” Lucy gave a shrug, “But Wyatt is out there looking for you and he loves you and your baby”

“You don’t know that, I betrayed him”

“You did, but I know that for six years he wouldn’t let you go and we have no reason to believe he would now”

“Also, if you try anything, I’ll just kill everyone” commented Flynn with a shrug.

The blonde hesitated, her gaze going from Flynn to Lucy and she reached out to get the paper the historian held.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“It’s none of our business your life with Wyatt, we’re here for Rittenhouse and Emma” Garcia assured.

“So that’s it?” the blonde said, “Why would I agree to that?”

“Because you love Wyatt and you love this baby and you know Rittenhouse will endanger everything you love”

“And because Emma doesn’t trust you” added Flynn, “You’re the wife of the enemy, you’re not to be trusted”

“We have nothing to gain by helping you or lying to you” the historian pointed out.

Jessica unfolded the paper and read it, then faced Lucy. She got the paper on her pocket, “Emma wants to use the bomb project to make a more powerful bomb, worse than the ones built during the Cold War. She wants Rittenhouse to have heavier guns. I don’t know who she’s meeting for that but I’m assuming this is your job to find out” she told, then faced Flynn, “I need you to shoot me, shoulder, preferably. Have to make it look real so I can get home and get out”

Lucy and Garcia exchanged glances, then turned to Jessica.

“Come on, shoot me”


	18. Ready

Denise Christopher had a careful look in her eyes when she opened the door and, after a bit of investigation, let Dave Baumgardner in. She closed the door behind him as soon as she got the chance.

“The things are in the car?” she questioned.

“Yes, ma’am” he replied.

“Good, you got here just in time, we’ll have a meeting to discuss next mission,” she said as he followed her to the basement.

Bam Bam saw Connor Mason working at something in his computer, while Jiya made her way to the team with a silver case in her hand. The young woman shot them a look over her shoulder.

“Hey,” she said and he gave her a smile and a nod.

His eyes finally found Lucy and Flynn who looked like they had just come out of some old movie.

“Lucy, Flynn” he greeted.

“Bam Bam” the historian replied with a smile.

“What do you think Jessica will do?” Denise asked Lucy.

“Honestly, I’m not sure, but she helped us stop Emma, so I’m guessing we won’t be seeing much of her soon,” Preston said.

“You said there was something we should see” Garcia commented, arms crossed in his chest.

“Yes” the agent gave them a nod then gave the soldier a look, “Sergeant Baumgardner will join you for your next mission”

“Next mission?” the former NSA raised an eyebrow.

“We’re saving Rufus,” Jiya told them.

“You… You know how?” Lucy asked, a smile creeping into her mouth.

The engineer let her own smile show, “We just finished the prototype, we call it ‘clockblocker’” she showed them the silver case, opened it and the three saw what looked like bracelets inside.

“I’m flattered that you made us friendship bracelets,” Flynn said picking one of them and analyzing it.

“Wow, you’re so funny” deadpanned Jiya.

“They will keep you from dying once you jump into your own timeline,” Connor said joining them.

“Basically we’ll send a different vibration than we normally do to the area. It’s like a disguise” the techie told them.

“What about the other yous?” Baumgardner asked, getting all the attention to himself, “I know it’s not safe where we’re going, so what’s the plan to deal with the doppelgangers?”

“You won’t have to deal with them” Denise announced, “You won’t get Rufus here, you’ll heal him there”

“How?” Flynn questioned.

“We talked to Noah and figured something that could help us,” Mason said, “Something like bandages but much much better”

“Is it going to be like in Kingsman 2?” Bam Bam questioned.

“Exactly like Kingsman 2,” Jiya said, “It’s like a paste, we get it on Rufus wounds and it’ll buy us time to get him to a doctor”

“Okay, so when do we start?” Lucy questioned.

“You leave tomorrow, we’ll discuss the details then and you’ll be off,” Christopher told them, “For today, you rest, I’ll give Sergeant Baumgardner the details of what happened in San Francisco. Oh, and the rest of your things is in the car in the garage”

  
  


“Do you think it’ll change much?”

Flynn raised his eyes, found her gaze lost. She was sitting on the bed on her pajamas, mind clearly wandering.

“If we succeed, if we save Rufus, what changes?” Lucy met his eyes.

He sat down by her side, “If Rufus hadn’t died, Jiya wouldn’t have felt the loss, the Future Team would not have come and given the nerds the lead to time travel in our own timeline, but I think that since we’ll use it to save Rufus, he’ll be able to get to it himself…” he kept himself from following down this path and got back to her question, “... Rufus and Wyatt might have gotten into a fight, Jessica is still a traitor…”

“Wyatt still leaves?” she raised an eyebrow.

Flynn shrugged, “I’m not sure. Rufus not dying would have made things a bit different… We, uh, we probably would have gotten back to Scotland and…”

“Divorced” she finished, averting his eyes for an instant, “Do you think Wyatt would have stayed if we had divorced?”

“I think he would have stayed if you told him you wanted him to” he offered.

Lucy swallowed, met his eyes, “I didn’t want him to leave”

“Nobody did, but he made a choice. He chose his family”

“I didn’t stop him, I didn’t answer him. He told me that he loved me and I said nothing in return”

“Would you change it if you could?”

A moment, “No… I couldn’t say it then, I was hurt but… He probably wouldn’t even have said it if Rufus hadn’t died. It wouldn’t be fair to any of us, it wasn’t fair to me. And I doubt he would have stayed, he really loves Jessica”

“He would have stayed, the divorce would have made him stay, his way to you would be free”

“Maybe”

Lucy studied him for a moment, “I know you said this wasn’t in the journal, us getting married, but… Did you ever think of it?”

Flynn let out a sigh, “I wondered why you’d have given me the journal when you could have given it to Wyatt or Rufus, made me think on how we're connected, but the journal never enlightened me on that, so it was all speculation”

“It crossed my mind, but it never made sense, not while we were going after you, trying to stop you. While I was with my mom, I wished it was true, that I had given you the journal, that there was more to it, to us, because I knew you wouldn’t stop fighting if that was the case. You didn’t stop fighting for Lorena and Iris, if we were together, I knew you wouldn’t stop fighting for me and maybe this meant I’d get out of that hell and help you defeat Rittenhouse”

He swallowed and lowered his gaze to her lips for a moment.

“I’m glad we didn’t get the divorce” she confessed, making him raise an eyebrow at her, “It is unusual, but… I can’t say this is a bad marriage experience”

They both smiled at that.

“Of course, I didn’t go through the whole thing, but, if it’s anything like this, I think I can survive it”

He gave her a smirk, “I think your next husband will be fine”

“Maybe,” she said leaning closer, “Or maybe there won’t be a next one”

“I don’t think I’d mind that”

Garcia let her close the distance, their lips meeting and he pulled her closer by the back of the neck, felt her hand touch his chest and pull at his shirt.

Between kisses, he laid her down on the bed and helped her as she got both his and her shirt out of the way.

“Now, where did we stop?” she asked and he grinned.

“I think somewhere around here…” he kissed her neck, down to her collarbone, then to her chest and felt her hands on his shoulders and on the back of his neck.

Lucy got him to kiss her on the mouth again while making sure to feel his form from his neck and all the way down his chest, nails grazing at his flesh. She felt him shift agitated when her hand got too dangerously low.

She sighed when she felt her bra get loose and slip away from her body, blushed a bit as she sensed his eyes on her form and would have tried to cover herself had he not been quick to taste the newly exposed skin, study just what reactions he could get from her there.

Lucy got him out of his pants, groaned when her hand accidentally brushed his erection making him grunt himself.

Her whole form felt hot, the air thick and electric. When their eyes met she was sure they were already past the point of no return.

Kissing him, feeling his chest against hers, his hips between her legs were more of a present sensation than the loss of her remaining clothes. 

Flynn paused to face her, meeting her eyes as if asking for permission, as if looking for hesitation. His search made vain when she stole yet another kiss from him.

Her legs wrapped around his hips and she encouraged him to slip inside her body, moaning when he did.

His movements were gentle, slow until she whispered something in his ear that made his hand hold the sheets tight, made him lick his lips and a noise was heard from deep down his throat. He began thrusting harder, earning appreciative sounds.

Lost on each other as they were, it didn’t take long for them to fall apart, then lay together, trying to get breaths and hearts back to normal. The marriage finally consummated.

Fell asleep together, like many times before. For tomorrow presented a challenge.


	19. Saving Rufus

They waited until San Francisco Flynn went off after Lucy, who had grabbed a gun and went for Emma.

Jiya was the first one to get San Francisco Jiya, Wyatt and Rufus.

“What the hell?” Wyatt questioned.

“Don’t worry, we’re here to help” Lucy said lowering herself to Rufus, “Hey, you’re gonna be okay, we got you. Jiya, could you help me here?”

Both Jiyas turned to the historian, but only the older version was able to show Lucy how the special bandages worked.

“What is this?” younger Jiya asked.

“Mason Industries future technology”

“How…?” Rufus muttered and the future version of his girlfriend raised her arm and showed him the prototype on her wrist. 

Then older Jiya faced her other version, “I’ll get you the numbers you’ll need for this, we can take down Rittenhouse sooner if the two of you upgrade this prototype”

“Jiya, what do I do now?” Lucy asked once she had the bandage in place.

“This might hurt a bit” she informed before working on the piece.

Rufus winced a bit.

“He’ll be out and cold for a few hours, get him back home and call for Noah, no need to explain the bandage, just get him to save Rufus,” the engineer told herself, the San Francisco version gave her a definitive nod.

“We have to go” Flynn announced, he faced Wyatt and shot Bam Bam a look, “Let’s get Rufus on the ship, I don’t know where Emma went after she escaped, but we can’t risk her seeing us and knowing we can travel in our own timelines”

“Do I want to know?” a voice asked and they turned to find San Francisco Flynn and Lucy watching them.

“Come here, we’ll cover them until they get Rufus on the boat,” Garcia told his past self, “You can’t carry him, but you still can shoot, your arm will be fine”

“You said it was a scratch” questioned past Lucy giving her husband a glare, she was about to inspect the wound when the other Flynn stopped her.

“You can be a good wife later, Lucy. I need to go”

“It’s not a scratch, by the way,” older Lucy said, “Get him a sling”

“Guys” hurried Wyatt.

The two soldiers carried Rufus fast to the Lifeboat while the two Jiya’s rushed to the machine to get it ready and running, all the while discussing numbers and how to get to the clockblocker bracelets.

Lucy avoided talking to her past version, even if she was clearly very curious.

The two Flynns were paying close attention to the surroundings, guns in hand.

“We’re ready!” announced one of the Jiya’s.

Bam Bam jumped off the boat, “Four seats. Lucy, Flynn” he said to the past versions indicating for them to get into the old Lifeboat.

“Anything else we should know?” past Lucy asked the future team.

Lucy and Flynn exchanged looks, the historian considered what happened to Wyatt, before speaking up, “A stray is still a loyal dog, he’s no less good than others. Also, don’t go back to Scotland”

Past Lucy frowned at the first part, but shot future Flynn a look at the second, and so did past Flynn.

“Go home,” older Garcia told them.

And they did, soon the other time team did the same.

After the jump the four of them exchanged glances.

“Ready?” Jiya asked.

“No” Lucy confessed.

“I can go first” Bam Bam offered.

“No, I want to do this,” the techie said, “I have to know if it worked”

The hatch opened and Jiya was the first one to get out.


	20. Epilogue

Emily Logan had her hair and the shape of her eyes like her mother’s, even if the color of them and the shape of her nose were her father’s. These were the features that made Lucy realize she had the right address.

“Hello,” she said to the young girl.

“Hi,” said Emily.

“Emily, right?”

The child nodded.

“Is your father home?”

“Emily, what is it?” the soldier’s voice asked as he joined the child in the front yard, stopped dead on his tracks when he saw the woman, “Lucy?”

“Hello, Wyatt”

He shifted a bit, uncertain, “What are you doing here? Is it safe for you to--?” 

The wind made a huge noise interrupting him and sent some leaves flying, the historian’s coat flew to the sides and the Logan was greeted with the sight of how much she had changed. It also didn’t escape her notice her swollen belly.

“What happened? I still remember Rittenhouse”

“It’s over in the present” she informed, “After you left, Rufus and Jiya finished the prototype and we started doing more damage. They weren’t erased but they can’t get back to their feet”

“And you weren’t erased in the process” he concluded.

“And I have lunch with Amy three times a week”

“And Flynn’s family?”

“Lorena drops Iris at our place on a regular basis so she can spend time with her father and play with her siblings”

“Rufus and Jiya?”

“Twins, they’re four now” she paused with a small smile on her lips, “You can go home, Wyatt, you and Jessica and Emily”

“Are you having a baby?” the child asked observing Lucy.

The historian gave her a nod.

“When?” Logan asked.

“In four months”

“It has been five years since I left… Is this your first?”

“No”

“How many?”

“Two girls”

He gave her a small smile, “I’m happy for you, Lucy. Thank you, for giving Jessica the message”

“What did it mean?”

“It was the hospital where her brother was saved, we met there and ran. Saw Rittenhouse once or twice but then it stopped, I guess I should thank you for that”

“I’m glad you got your family back”

“I can say the same about you”

“Rufus and Jiya will have a party for the twins birthday, Rufus said he wants you there”

Wyatt faced his daughter, “Would you like to meet a few friends of dad, Em?”

The child observed him with a raised eyebrow before nodding and turning to Lucy again, “Are they nice? Can mom go?”

The historian chuckled, “Yes, they’re nice and yes, your mom can go”

“And the baby? He cries a lot but he’s nice” Emily assured, “His name is Daniel”

“Sure, Daniel can come too,” told Lucy.

“Okay”

The soldier faced his friend. “If you found this place, I’m assuming you have my number”

“I do”

“Christopher?”

“She offered but my husband was NSA, remember?”

“Ah, right”

“I’ll text you the address and the day” she started to turn to go back to the car.

“Lucy?”

“Is it really over?”

She paused and faced him, “Feels weird, yeah, but it’s over. We won the war, Wyatt. It’s over”

He watched as she got into her car and left. His hand caressed his daughter’s head and he glanced up to the sky, it looked more blue than usual and he liked it.

Life began again. It was nice to be free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There, done.  
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
